SYFY PREMIERES BEAST LEGENDS - NEW SERIES INVESTIGATES LEGENDARY CREATURES FROM KRAKENS TO FIRE DRAGONS

DEBUTS THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, AT 10PM

New York, New York - August 17, 2010 - Syfy will premiere Beast Legends, a new six-part series which journeys around the world using scientific data to reconstruct what mythological monsters, from Krakens and Griffins to Fire Dragons, would have looked like.

The debut of Beast Legends on Thursday, September 9, at 10PM (ET/PT) follows the fourth season return of Destination Truth at 9PM (ET/PT).

In each of the hour-long episodes, Beast Legends uncovers historical and eyewitness accounts by zeroing in on archaeological and other physical evidence to assemble the most accurate picture possible of these monsters, from where they might have lived to how they would have behaved.

Beast Legends then moves to the 'Beast Lab' to build the creature, first as initial sculpts and wire-frame forms, before finally bringing it to life in stunning 3D CGI.

The investigations are conducted by the "Beast Seekers," an expert team of specialists:

Stephen Leonard: Adventurer and Veterinary Surgeon based in Bristol, England

Kathryn Denning: Myth expert, anthropologist, archaeologist and professor at Toronto's York University.

Scott Edwards: Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and Curator of Ornithology at the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University.

Francis Manapul: Philippine-born, now Toronto-based, renowned comic book artist.

This season, Beast Legends will explore:

The Kraken - Thursday, September 9, at 10PM (ET/PT)

The Beast Seekers investigate the sailor's legend of the Kraken, a terrifying multi-tentacled sea monster that snatches men from ships' decks and crushes entire vessels, sending them to the ocean bottom.

Fire Dragon - Thursday, September 16, at 10PM (ET/PT)

The Beast Seekers venture deep into the primeval forests of Poland in search of the truth behind ancient legends of a terrifying, fire-breathing dragon called Smok.

Megajaws - Thursday, September 23, at 10PM (ET/PT)

The Beast Seekers travel to Fiji to learn about Dakuwaqa, an all-seeing, all-knowing Shark God - a huge beast that can change shape at will.

Winged Lion - Thursday, September 30, at 10PM (ET/PT)

The Beast Seekers explore Mongolia's Altai (Golden) Mountains in search of a massive, legendary creature with the head of an eagle, razor-sharp talons and the body of a gigantic lion - the vicious beast known as the Griffin.

Wildman of Vietnam - Thursday, October 7, at 10PM (ET/PT)

The Beast Seekers explore the remote, unexplored jungles of Vietnam in search of the Wildman, a giant, hairy, bloodthirsty beast similar to North America's Bigfoot or Sasquatch.

Bird Monster -- Thursday, October 14, at 10PM (ET/PT)

In the ancestral Navajo lands of New Mexico, the Beast Seekers investigate the legend of a giant bird predator the size of a small airplane.

Executive Producers of Beast Legends are Pauline Duffy and Elliott Halpern. Series Director is Robin Bicknell. For Canwest: Production Executive Nick Crowe and V-P, Factual Content, Michael Kot. Beast Legends is produced by yap films in association with Canwest, Syfy and BBC Worldwide, with the participation of the Canada Media Fund and Rogers Cable Network Fund, and with the assistance of the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit.

Yap films, founded by Elliott Halpern and Pauline Duffy, is a highly respected independent production company with production offices in Toronto, Canada and Leeds, U.K. Along with Beast Legends, the company's current and upcoming projects include Fire Jammers; Ancients Behaving Badly; Dive Detectives; Storm Planets, and the animated feature March of the Dinosaurs.

Syfy is a media destination for imagination-based entertainment. With year round acclaimed original series, events, blockbuster movies, classic science fiction and fantasy programming, a dynamic Web site (www.Syfy.com), and a portfolio of adjacent business (Syfy Ventures), Syfy is a passport to limitless possibilities. Originally launched in 1992 as SCI FI Channel, and currently in more than 96 million homes, Syfy is a network of NBC Universal, one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies. (Syfy. Imagine greater.)